In her book published in 1999, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, Carol Ann Tomlinson concluded that differentiated, or personalized instruction is highly effective in helping students of different backgrounds, readiness and skill levels, and interests, to succeed in academics.
With private tutoring, students receive an individualized learning experience they can’t always get in a classroom setting. And though they may learn in many ways, the essential skills and content they learn can remain steady. That is, students can take different roads to the same destination.
Below we outline 3 strategies for differentiated instruction that tutors can put into practice during their tutoring sessions.
Flexible schedule
Students’ schedules are more fluid during the lockdown, and hence they have more flexibility over when and how they do their school work. One of the important factors about differentiated instruction is to allow students to work at their own pace. And when students have certain control over the structure of their days, they’re more disciplined and likely to finish their work on time.
Continuous, regular assessment
Regular assessments allow tutors to adjust instruction on a frequent basis and use a variety of instructional strategies to help students to reach their goals (long-term or short-term). These assessments can be brief but carried out consistently throughout the tutoring sessions and provide both tutors and students with quick data that ultimately drives instruction and learning. We’ve created a progress report template that tutors can customize and use to evaluate their students – get access here for free!
Personalized sessions for diverse learners
Referring to the previous point, with every assessment, tutors get to know their students (how they learn, their strengths and weaknesses) better, and hence are able to develop differentiated lessons that meet their needs. Also, offering students choice in the tasks and projects they complete is very important. That is, tutors should create personalized assignments based on their evaluations of their student’s progress, performance and their diverse levels of expertise and experience with reading, writing, speaking, thinking, problem-solving, and more.
At TutorOcean, we put our users first. For tutors, you enjoy the flexibility to teach when you want and charge as you wish. On top of that, our platform allows you to choose the logistics of your lessons such as date, time, location, and more. Sign up for free to become a tutor.
TutorOcean
TutorOcean is a global marketplace where learners and tutors connect. Through its intuitive and integrated online classroom, tutors are able to cultivate the internal motivation and potential of learners, and thus help them achieve their goals. It's a place where the connection is made instantly, knowledge is shared and acquired in real-time, and community is created while breaking geographical boundaries.
